K-12 Tuition Free Public School
Amber Golden Raskin, Founding Board President
Raskin has worked tirelessly for the
past several years to launch Santa Clarita Valley International (SCVi) Charter
School. Seeking an alternative to traditional public school for
her 2 children, she has traveled throughout the state of California,
touring public charter, private, and traditional public schools looking for the
successful and appropriate K-12 models to bring to the Santa Clarita
Valley. Intending to prepare SCVi's students for the 21st century, she
and the SCVi Interim Board of Directors have created this internationally
focused, project-based charter school. Before founding SCVi, Raskin's
background in education was primarily as a parent actively involved with her
children's school and passionate about making a difference in her
community. To fully understand the world of charter schools, Raskin has
attended countless workshops and conferences and has had intensive training in
starting a charter school.
When Raskin is not taking care of
her 2 school-aged children or starting a charter school, she can usually
be found working as a community activist. She founded the Santa Clarita
Chapter of the Million Mom March in an effort to protect children from gun
violence. She has lobbied in both Sacramento and Washington for safety
issues on behalf of our community. A graduate of Cal State University at
Long Beach, she has traveled the world, usually with kids in tow, and has
worked hard to bring an international perspective to her family. Before
staying home with her children full-time, she worked as a television producer
creating hundreds of hours of network television. As a producer, she was
responsible for multimillion-dollar budgets, hiring staff, and the start-up of
new companies, including work in payables, receivables, and a host of other
management activities. She managed several different staffs
of 100-plus, including some especially difficult talent relations.
These experiences have all led her to the most difficult of all producing jobs:
being a mom. She can be reached at amber.raskin@scvcharterschool.org.
Courtney
Lackey, Founding Secretary
Courtney Lackey, as a commercial
real estate broker, specializes in commercial real estate investment management
and brokerages services. For over 18 years she has worked with many of
the top commercial real estate firms and managed teams of more than 60
people. Additionally, she has experience working with city departments on
facilities and obtaining permits and variances approved and has overseen
multimillion-dollar, high-profile development projects in the heart of Los
Angeles. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin at Madison, she has a
dual major in real estate investment analysis and development and
marketing. Courtney has extensive experience in leadership, financial
oversight, and negotiations. She can be reached at courtney@scvcharterschool.org.
Sharlene Atwood, Founding
Treasurer
Sharlene comes to us as first a
mother of 4 children ranging in ages from 12 to 1. She is dedicated to
helping her children love learning and become lifelong learners. She is a
certified public accountant who graduated with honors from Brigham Young
University in accounting. Her first job after college was working as an
auditor for a CPA firm in Newport Beach, California, specializing in non-profit
and governmental accounting. When her children were young, she started a
successful home-based tax business. During non-tax season, she worked as
a part-time consultant for various municipalities and non-profit organizations
throughout southern California. Recently, Sharlene helped a family member
establish an accounting system and accounting policies for a Chinese-based
furniture business. Sharlene has always had a love and interest for other
countries and cultures around the world. She speaks Italian and lived in
Italy for 18 months and enjoys visiting other countries. She brings her
professional experience, her dedication to her children’s education, and her
passion learning to Santa Clarita Valley International.
Renee Marshall, Board
Member
Renee Marshall teaches for College
of the Canyons in their education and early childhood education
departments. Additionally, she is working as a project director for COC's
Teacher Preparation Pipeline grant. Renee's involvement in the charter
school movement is new, but she is passionate about education being
developmentally appropriate and individualized for children. Renee has a
bachelor's degree in development psychology and a master's degree in education
from the University of California at Santa Cruz. She spent time teaching
elementary school in both northern and southern California before obtaining her
master's degree in educational Administration from CSUN.
Renee has spent many years in the
classroom. She started as a preschool teacher in the UCSC family student
housing lab school. She transitioned into elementary school teaching and
has taught a variety of grade levels. While teaching elementary school,
she became involved in the Castaic Diversity Task Force and helped by providing
training and facilitation directed towards promoting equity in the classroom.
Renee believes that education needs
to be individually tailored for each child in the classroom and that the
well-being of the child needs to be at the core of the educational
experience. She is excited about her partnership with Santa Clarita
International Charter School and looks forward to the future of the school.
Renee resides in Castaic, California, with her husband of 10 years and her
1-year-old twins. She can be reached at renee@scvcharterschool.org.
Franca
Campopiano, Founding Board Member
Franca has been with Odyssey Charter
School for 6 years, 3 as the director of education and 3 as the
executive director. Under Franca's leadership as executive director, the
school raised its API over 80 points. The school was re-chartered and
received facilities under Prop 39 from Pasadena Unified School District.
Prior to joining the Odyssey
team, she was a classroom teacher for eight years at Linda Vista
Elementary in PUSD, where she developed a K-2 multi-age program, spearheaded an
after-school reading program for at-risk students, was a member of the Program
Quality Review Team, and chaired "Family Reading Nights." While a
teacher, Franca also served as adjunct professor at Pacific Oaks College and
Claremont Graduate University, where she taught teacher education courses for
several years. Franca has had much experience working with teachers by serving
as a master and mentor teacher for new teachers and student teachers,
collaborating with teachers as a math leader and developing Saturday
intervention programs in collaboration with local teacher education programs.
Franca was also nominated for the
Teacher of Excellence Award for 2 consecutive years. Franca has
completed 2 and a half years of her doctoral studies at Claremont Graduate
University, where she also earned her clear teaching credential and master of
arts in education in 1993. This school year, Franca will participate in
Leadership Pasadena with other local community leaders. When time permits, Franca
enjoys exercise, reading, and travel.
In the fall of 2007 Franca stepped
down as executive director of Odyssey to stay home with her newborn. She
can be reached at franca@scvcharterschool.org.
Keith Raskin, Founder
Keith Raskin is a producer and an
executive in charge of production in the entertainment industry. During
his almost 20-year tenure, he has been directly responsible for the start-up of
multiple production companies. He has managed staffs as large as 400 and
budgets as large as 25 million. As an executive in charge of production,
he negotiates union contracts, resolves human resources issues, and oversees
facilities management. Raskin has been financially responsible for more
than 1,500 hours of television. He has worked all over the country and
the world. Recently he traveled to Moscow to train and advise a Russian
Network, creating multi-camera situation comedies for Sony Pictures Television.
He can be reached at keith@scvcharterschool.org.
Antoinette
Peragine-Tabbanella, Founder
Antoinette Peragine-Tabbanella is a
professional actress, producer, business owner, wife, and mother to two
energetic boys. Antoinette created and owns Beforetheparty.com, a successful
company that provides service staff for special events in the Los Angeles
area. Antoinette employs and schedules over 100 staff members for 15 to
20 different events and venues weekly, including many high-profile and celebrity
clients. Antoinette's company enjoys an unparalleled reputation within the
business for scouting and placing dynamic individuals with the highest
professional standards.
Antoinette believes life should
be lived with a sense of purpose, creativity, and an entrepreneurial
spirit. She understands firsthand the power of the right education to foster
these qualities. Antoinette credits her own education with encouraging her to
integrate classroom learning with the culture, history, and treasures of the world
beyond the school doors. As a founding member of the International School of
Santa Clarita, Antoinette is thrilled to be able to bring together her
skills as a successful business owner and her passion for a broad-based
education with her commitment to her family and her community. She can be
reached at antoinette@scvcharterschool.org.